Europe’s Digital Agenda (16-24 September)

Welcome to this edition of Europe’s Digital Agenda. In this space we uncover and detail last week’s digital developments from across Europe, highlighting the most relevant news as well as EU institutions’ forthcoming activities, together with a focus on AI funding opportunities from across the Channel.

Last week, we discussed key developments around the controversial EU Copyright Directive as well as key developments around Cybersecurity with a hack on an Italian agency, Brexit and the Pentagon’s commitment to invest $2bn in AI, which necessarily shines a light on Europe’s own AI journey.

This week, we have a busy agenda that includes developments in EU investigation into Amazon’s use of merchants’ data and new Commission guidance for ending unjustified geo-blocking across Europe. We will also discuss Brexit and key developments around Cybersecurity with Estonia and Japan strengthening bilateral defence cooperation on cybersecurity.

In this edition we will also present a look at The Week Ahead where we will help you decode the future by outlining the next week’s most relevant digital meetings and events.

Europe at a Glance

The map above shows last week’s most relevant digital news.

European Commission publishes new guidance for ending unjustified geo-blocking.

The Commission has issued an updated guidance for ending unjustified geo-blocking to help member states to adapt to new rules which start to apply across the EU as of December 3.

The new piece of regulation aims to allow European consumers and business to buy and sell products and services online more easily and confidently across the EU. A new questions and answers document on geo-blocking is also set to help member states to ensure a “smooth start”, by providing practical assistance to consumers, responsible authorities and traders.

European Commission Vice-President Ansip in charge of the Digital Single Market said, “Our initiatives will make it easier for people to shop online and for companies to reach new markets. To make the new rules work properly, all parties involved need to be fully informed and committed to applying them in their daily work. This guidance is part of the Commission’s broader efforts to boost e-commerce, through its proposals to simplify VAT rules, facilitate cross-border parcel delivery and payments, and strengthen consumer protection.”

EU opens an investigation into Amazon’s use of merchants’ data.

In a press conference in Brussels, the EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, confirmed that the Commission had launched a preliminary investigation into how the ecommerce group Amazon was using data from third-party sellers on its platform. It is not yet a formal inquiry, she added.

The Commission suspects the e-commerce giant of using the data it collects from third-party vendors on its marketplace to gain a commercial advantage.

Vestager said, “The question here is about the data, because if you as Amazon get the data from the smaller merchants that you host — which can be of course completely legitimate because you can improve your service to these smaller merchants — well, do you then also use this data to do your own calculations? What is the new big thing, what is it that people want, what kind of offers do they like to receive, what makes them buy things?”

“We have no conclusions, we haven’t formally opened the case, but we are trying to make sure that we get the full picture because we saw it in our own sector inquiry and this is also what a lot of people are talking about by now, so we do the follow-up,” Vestager added.

The EU’s competition commissioner is already known for having a track record of “taking tech companies to task”. Just few months ago, she handed Google a fine of £3.8bn for anticompetitive practices related to its Android operating system.

Commissioner met with Airbnb and Facebook to push for full compliance with EU consumer rules.

European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Věra Jourová and national consumer authorities met with Airbnb and Facebook to take stock of the progress made on two ongoing consumer enforcement actions.

Following the call from the EU consumer authorities in July, Airbnb has committed to “making the necessary changes to their terms and conditions and improving the presentation of their prices”. The company has until the end of 2018 to make these changes.

Jourová said, “The online players have revolutionised the way we travel, find accommodation and experience our holidays. But they also need to fully comply with the rules and take responsibility when things go bad. But EU consumers enjoy rights both off-line and online. I welcome Airbnb’s willingness to do the necessary changes to ensure full transparency and understanding of what consumers pay for. This action is part of a larger push for stronger protection of consumers online. That’s why we proposed reinforced consumer rules under the ‘New Deal for Consumers’ a few months ago.”

Regarding Facebook, the Commission said there was very limited progress in the framework of the ongoing enforcement action. It added, “Facebook’s new terms of services from April contain a misleading presentation of the main characteristics of Facebook’s services. In particular, Facebook now tells consumers that their data and content is used only to improve their overall “experience” and does not mention that the company uses these data for commercial purposes.”

Jourová said, “My patience has reached its limit. While Facebook assured me to finally adapt any remaining misleading terms of services by December, this has been ongoing for too long. It is now time for action and no more promises. If the changes are not fully implemented by the end of the year, I call on consumer authorities to act swiftly and sanction the company.”

Defence ministers from Estonia and Japan met in Tokyo to discuss bilateral defence co-operation and questions related to cybersecurity. Estonia’s Minister of Defence Jüri Luik said, “Japan’s competency in the field of information technology and cyber defence is quite impressive. Estonia and Japan decided to strengthen their cyber defence related cooperation, for example, through the use of training exercises and infrastructure.”

It was also announced that Japan is preparing to join NATO’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, in Tallinn.

Aragon region becomes Spain’s first to apply blockchain for public services.

The autonomous region of Aragon, in northeastern Spain, will be the first in the Iberian Peninsula to adopt and apply blockchain technology for public administration.

Gernando Gimeno, the Aragonese councillor for Finance and Public Administration signed a contract with Alastria – a blockchain ecosystem of more than 274 entities, which includes public companies, public administration departments, and educational institutions which have been working on developing blockchain-based tools in accordance with EU legal frameworks.

Gimeno said that blockchain technology will improve transparency and increase accountability, thus leading to improved efficiency of the administration.

The Aragonese initiative has not gone unnoticed, with Catalonia also expressing its interest for blockchain to assist its administration.

The declaration is an agreement of cooperation between the countries that are investing in providing secure and authorised cross-border access to national and regional banks of genetic and other health data, in accordance with all EU data protection rules.

The declaration was originally launched on April 10 during the Digital Day and has been since then signed by Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK

Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jo Platt, “Let’s use the great challenges of cyber security as opportunities for our country”.

As the Labour Party conference continues in Liverpool, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jo Platt says the UK can lead the world in cyber security. But argues the necessary leadership and collaboration have so far been absent.

The Brexit Corner

The Prime Minister’s senior ministerial team remains fully behind her Brexit proposals, Theresa May’s spokesman said, after her plans were criticised by European leaders at a summit in Salzburg last week.

“The cabinet gave its full support to the white paper, and that continues to be the case,” the spokesman said.

European Council President Donald Tusk said a compromise with the UK is “still possible”.

Tusk issued a statement on Friday, a couple of hours after Theresa May delivered a speech in Downing Street in which she said the EU’s rejection of her Brexit plan without offering alternatives was “unacceptable”.

Tusk said that EU leaders at the Salzburg summit had treated the proposals with “all seriousness” and said that there were “step in the right direction”.

“Britain had known about the EU’s reservations over the Chequers plan for weeks,” he added.

He said: “While understanding the logic of the negotiations, I remain convinced that a compromise, good for all, is still possible. I say these words as a close friend of the UK and a true admirer of PM May.”

Labour said it will adopt a stance on its support for a second Brexit referendum by conducting a vote among members on Tuesday on a motion committing the party to support “all options remaining on the table, including campaigning for a public vote” if no election is triggered by May’s Brexit plans.

Labour’s potential backing for a new Brexit referendum will be conditional on whether the Prime Minister fails to receive the support she needs for the Chequers proposal in the Commons.

In the meanwhile, a group of eurosceptic Tory MPs have supported the Institute of Economic Affairs’ (IEA) Brexit plan, which would see the UK try to copy a ‘Canada-style’ free trade agreement on goods and services with the EU.

The IEA plan also includes sticking to the arrangements already made with the EU on the £39bn divorce bill, EU citizens and the transition period.

While the Labour party is debating the possibility of holding a second Brexit referendum and Eurosceptic Tories have thrown their weight behind the IEA’s plan, the government also published its latest set of no deal Brexit planning papers. These are some of the most relevant:

As the Labour Party conference continues in Liverpool, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jo Platt says in an article on Government Computing that the UK can lead the world in cyber security. But, she argues, the necessary leadership and collaboration have so far been absent.

The European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy to host a workshop on Brexit, industry and space policy.

September 25

Labour Party Annual Conference in Liverpool.

European Parliament Budgets Committee to adopt its proposed figures for the EU budget for next year.

September 26

Theresa May to give a keynote at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

UK Labour Party Annual Conference in Liverpool.

September 27

European Parliament to host a conference for fact-checking organisations ahead of the upcoming EU elections.

September 28

Second day of the European Parliament conference for fact-checking organisations ahead of the upcoming EU elections.

September 30 – Oct 3

Conservative Party Conference, Birmingham

Digital Movers and Shakers

Mayank Prakash, chief digital officer and CIO of the Department for Work and Pensions, is leaving to take up a new role outside government.

AI Opportunities across the Channel

Aalto University Foundation (Finland) has issued a tender to find a competent long-term partner to “fulfil Aalto level need for developing and improving the analytics competence of mainly unstructured data”. The partner should also be capable of combining unstructured and structured data for analytics purposes. The partner will provide technology, tools and competence to guide and teach Aalto specialists to manage data.

The authority said in the procurement notice, “Data analytics is of strategic importance for Aalto and on national level, since it enables management by data, AI (Artificial Intelligence) science and IoT (Internet of Things) data repository and thus provides direct solutions to Aalto strategic ambitions to be a world class University”.

During the two days conference, organised by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the National Cyber Security Centre of the Ministry of Justice and Security, leading speakers will share insights and developments in cyber security.

it-sa IT security exhibition 2018 (Nuremberg, 9-11 October).

The ‘it-sa’ is one of the largest IT security exhibitions in Europe with 630 exhibitors and over 10,000 attendees.

Prof. Udo Helmbrecht, executive director of the European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) is expected to be the main speaker at the “Innovative solutions to enhance cybersecurity in Europe” forum discussion.

European Week of Regions and Cities (Brussels, 8-13 October).

The European Week of Regions and Cities is an annual four-day event during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement European Union cohesion policy, and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance. During the third day of the event (October 10), the ISAÂ² Programme, boosting digital public administrations in Europe workshop is expected to take place. The workshop aims to address the main eGovernment and interoperability issues and produce guidelines and training for the digitalisation of public administrations at local and regional level as well as e-tools for networking and boosting administrative capacity for EU funds management.

4th e-Health Security Conference (Rotterdam, 14 November)

The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) is organising the 4th eHealth Security workshop in cooperation with the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, on November 14.

The event will focus on the aspects related to the implementation of EU Directives for the Healthcare sector across member states, and will highlight practices regarding the identification of operators of essential services, the collection of baseline security measures and incident notification.

The workshop will also include sessions dedicated to medical devices as well as to emerging technologies in eHealth security like Blockchain.

The thirteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be hosted by the Government of France at the headquarters of UNESCO in Paris from 12 to 14 November 2018. The IGF is a forum organised by the United Nations for multi-stakeholder dialogue on public policy issues related to key elements of Internet governance issues, such as the Internet’s sustainability, robustness, security, stability and development.

Think Digital Identity for Government 2018 (29 November)

Think Digital Identity for Government is the must attend event for professionals involved in Identity across government and for department heads and policy and decision makers from within local and central government.

The day will feature speakers discussing how their organisations are delivering and practising digital identity in public services, including the challenges, the success and the headaches. Among the speakers will be Cheryl Stevens, DWP Digital’s Deputy Director, Identity & Trust, and Think Digital will also be hearing from other serious exponents of identity in public services, in Whitehall and beyond.